Legacy 1x09: Lovers Lane
by Lady Dawson
Summary: Complete. While Susan struggles with Brooke's betrayal to Wyatt, a face connected to her past comes to San Francisco with a message for her. Who is this person and how is he connected with her father?
1. A Broken Love

**Legacy: Lovers Lane**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter One: A Broken Love

Susan Dawson ran her fingers over her eyes as she stared down at her cup of hot chocolate, swirling the mixture around as she sat in her kitchen, hardly even paying attention to what she was doing, her thoughts on her best friend Brooke Murphy, who was still asleep in her bedroom. Or presumably she was sleeping, but Susan wasn't sure if she wanted to know if she wasn't doing any sleeping considering the last time that she'd walked into her bedroom without permission.

Two weeks had passed since Susan had walked in on Brooke and Brandon James, Susan's Whitelighter, kissing in her bedroom and neither one of them were aware that the witchlighter knew. She hadn't said a word to anybody about it, not even to her boyfriend Chris Halliwell or to Brooke's boyfriend Wyatt.

Susan ran her fingers through her brown hair as she drained the mug before putting it in the dishwasher. She had to get to class before she was late; it was going to be the second time this week and she wasn't going to risk cutting class when there were plenty of times when she was forced to get out of class because of demon attacks.

_Oh, the joys of being a witch in college,_ Susan thought miserably as she slung her bag on her back, grabbing her keys before moving over to Brooke's door, knocking on it.

"Brooke?" she called, listening for any answer, but she couldn't hear anything. "Hey, Brooke, I'm heading off to class. You might want to get a move on before you miss the start of your lecture." She waited for any sign that her best friend had heard her, but there was no answer and Susan sighed, pushing open the door and peering inside, praying that Brandon was not there.

Thankfully, there was no sign of her Whitelighter and she moved over to her bed, where Brooke was lying on the bed, fast asleep, snoring slightly. Rolling her eyes, Susan walked over to it, shaking Brooke awake. "Hey, Brooke, wake up," she ordered as the telepath groaned, pushing her away. "Look, you need to get up if you're going to make it to class."

"I've still got a few hours," Brooke whined, batting her away. "Come on, Sue, it's still dark out."

Susan raised an eyebrow and lifted Brooke's eye mask off of her eyes, bringing her into the day that was shining through the window. Brooke blinked at the morning light, then smiled weakly up at the witchlighter. "Oops," she murmured apologetically. "My bad."

"Seriously, you need to get to class, Brooke," Susan ordered. "It's been one of the few mornings that we haven't had a demon attack and I for one would like to take advantage of that. Besides, you're failing this class!"

"What's with the attitude?" Brooke asked as Susan headed out the door. "It's one class that I'm failing and excuse me if I don't exactly have all the time in the world to learn the subject."

Susan sighed. "And I understand that, I really do, but unless you make an honest effort, which involves going to class when we're able, you're not going to be getting any sympathy out of me."

Heading out of the apartment, Susan locked the door behind her as she stepped out into the hallway, spotting her boyfriend exiting his own apartment with his bag slung over his shoulder. "Hey, stranger," she said as she hurried to catch up with him. Chris grinned as he wrapped an arm around her. "Wyatt decide to skip out today?"

"Nah, he headed out earlier, to catch a shift at the clinic before class. You want a ride?" he asked, pulling her over to his car. Susan smiled wryly up at him.

"Are you just being a gentleman or do you just want to talk to me about something?" she queried. Chris sighed, pulling open the passenger door for her. Susan slid into the seat, closing it behind her before he climbed into the driver's side, turning the car on before turning on the highway. "Okay, so what's up?"

"Could ask you the same thing," Chris replied, glancing at her. "Something's been bothering you for a couple weeks now. Even Wyatt's noticed it. You're quieter than usual, whenever somebody mentions Brooke, your mouth tightens and you change the subject as fast as you can. Not to mention, as soon as Brandon shows up, you make the first excuse that you can to leave the room." He pulled to a stop at the stoplight before looking at her seriously. "Come on, Susan, talk to me."

Susan's shoulders slumped. "You've gotten to know me too well," she said softly, looking away and staring out the window. "Chris . . . it's not that I don't want to tell you, it's that I'm not sure that I should. I wish that I didn't know, but unfortunately, I didn't exactly get much of a choice in that matter," she mumbled, but he heard her.

"Just tell me what's going on, maybe I can help."

Glancing at her boyfriend, Susan sighed as she shifted her position to look at him. "Okay," she said after a long moment. "Let's say hypothetically that I know this girl. Let's call her Jane," she added, causing Chris to chuckle before forcing seriousness on his face again. "And Jane has this boyfriend—"

"We're gonna call him Joe?" Chris asked and Susan laughed this time and nodded with a small smile.

"Yeah and Joe has this brother who is dating Jane's best friend," she added. "So a couple of weeks ago, Jane walked in on her best friend kind of . . . kissing her Whitelighter." She chanced a glance at Chris and found that his expression mingled with angry, shock, and fury.

"Brooke and Brandon were kissing?!" he yelled, sounding angrier than Susan had ever heard him and she flinched back at his tone. Chris took a deep breath to calm himself down when he saw this. "You walked in on them kissing?"

Susan nodded, still regarding him warily. "Yes," she said quietly. "Chris, I—I didn't mean to, I just . . . was gonna ask Brooke something and then when I saw them . . ." She trailed off.

"Did they see you?" Chris asked her, his voice gentler now. She shook her head. "Jeez. I cannot believe her. I mean . . . it's bad enough that she did it with your brother, but after everything that she did to get back with Wyatt, I can't believe she'd do that again."

"I know." Susan shook her head. "And now I'm stuck in the middle again, because I care about Wyatt and I don't want to see him hurt, but . . . Brooke's also my best friend and . . . oh, gods, what am I going to do? I can't just walk up and tell Wyatt what's going on."

Chris shook his head, still looking disgusted. "I think the only thing to do right now is to confront Brooke about it, tell her that we know. And she should be the one to tell Wyatt, not you or me. If she doesn't, then yeah, we'll tell him—or I will. But we'll talk to Brooke later today, while Wyatt's at the clinic during his regular shift."

"I hate this," Susan muttered as she curled up against Chris's side. "It's bad enough that she did this once, but I didn't think she'd do it again. Especially to Wyatt, he doesn't deserve this." She shook her head. "I just wish . . . I don't know what I wish. Why is it that it is so much easier to fight demons than it is to figure out my own best friend?"

"Got me."

--

In another part of the country, in New York City, a young man named Ethan Hale moved out of the way just as a fireball narrowly missed him and he ducked underneath two energy balls thrown by the attacking demons. "You know, you probably should see somebody about that anger management problem," he drawled with a smirk towards the demons.

"Insolent boy," one of them growled, "you should have run while you still had the chance. Your father will not be pleased when he learns how far you have fallen because of that little witch."

Ethan growled at the mention of his ex-girlfriend, who was halfway across the country, in Wisconsin, but recovered. "My father was never really pleased about anything I did, so why should she change anything?"

Without waiting for a reply, Ethan conjured his own energy ball, hurling it towards the two remaining demons, vanquishing one, and shimmered away before they had a chance to do anything. But instead of shimmering to his apartment, as his sense of self-preservation was screaming at him to do, he shimmered behind one of the buildings, close to where the remaining demon was doing.

He was rewarded for his thinking, because no sooner than he had shimmered into place, two more demons arrived. Ethan recognised them as his father's personal assassins. "The Master wants to know how you far in regards to the boy."

"Ethan has escaped again, but don't worry, I will capture him before too long. He is within our grasp. If the Master will just be patient just a little bit longer, I'll have—" There was a hint of pleading in the demon's voice as the assassins cut him off.

"Silence! The Master has grown tired of your failures time and time again. Now, it's time that we dealt with the boy, since you have failed to do so. And you know full well how the Master tolerates failure." There was a smugness in the assassin's voice as he spoke. "Give our regards to oblivion, won't you?" he added, chortling.

Though Ethan hated the demon that had been turning his life into chaos since he had started tracking him, he couldn't help but feel sorry as he was turned into flames and vanquished. But his sympathy was short-lived as his attention turned towards the assassins.

"What now?" the second asked, tapping his long fingers against the sword at his side impatiently. "The boy will be long gone by now. He's not stupid enough to stick around here once he finds out that we will be on his trail from now on."

The first assassin smirked as he turned to his companion. "Oh, I don't plan on doing anything, my friend. The boy is going to come to us willingly, once we take away the one thing that he cares about most in this world. And she is unprotected."

_Unprotected?_ Ethan thought, mirth filling through him and he forced himself not to burst out laughing. Obviously they had forgotten to account for her brother, who would rather face twelve demon clans single-handedly than leave his sister defenceless. Ethan had learned that lesson a few times.

"You forget who the girl is with now. Do you really think that it will be possible to get her away from _them_?"

"I will make it possible," the assassin said coolly. "And once we have her, then the boy isn't going to play games and risk her life. He will do anything in order to keep her safe."

Ethan had heard enough. Shimmering away to his apartment, he tossed his leather jacket on the chair as he headed for the phone, picking it up and dialling a well-rehearsed number, listening as it rang. And on the third ring, someone in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin picked up.

"Hello, Anderson residence," a woman said pleasantly. Ethan's heart stopped. Anderson? "Hello, is someone there?"

"Uh . . ." Ethan shook his head, wondering if he could have possibly gotten the wrong number. "I'm sorry, uh . . . I'm trying to reach Susan Dawson. I must have gotten the wrong number, I'm sorry." He was about to hang up when the woman stopped him.

"Susan Dawson? The young girl who lived here before?" Ethan could've shouted with joy; he knew he could've have forgotten her number.

"Yeah, I suppose so. Did she—did she move away or something? What happened?" Ethan couldn't believe that she would move away without telling him, but then again, the last time they'd spoken, they had agreed to keep their distance so that they could move on with their lives. And their parting hadn't exactly been pleasant.

"Well, you can't exactly blame her for leaving here, what with the death of her mother and brother," the woman said sympathetically. Ethan's blood went cold as she heard that fact. "I believe she went with her friend Brooke Murphy to California. Los Angeles or San Francisco, one of those big cities over there."

"But you're sure it was California?" Ethan sought to clarify, gripping the phone so hard that he thought he would break it.

"Quite sure."

"Okay. Thank you. I'm sorry for disturbing you," Ethan said as he hung up the phone, closing his eyes for a minute. When he managed to stay calm, he picked up the phone again, dialling another number, this time in California.

"Evan?" he said when someone picked up. "It's Ethan. I need you to track down somebody for me . . ."

**--Opening Credits--**

Title song: "Chariot" by Gavin Degraw

Drew Fuller as Chris Halliwell

Wes Ramsey as Wyatt Halliwell

Michelle Trachtenberg as Susan Dawson

Anne Hathaway as Brooke Murphy

Hayden Christensen as Brandon James

and Shawn Ashmore as Bobby Connelly

--

AN: Okay, guys, I am so, so, so sorry that I haven't been working on the Legacy series as of late. I have no excuse for it. I just have been getting little bit bored with it and decided to get lazy with it and the next thing I know, I haven't written an episode in months. I think I just needed a little bit of a break from it. (Okay, a long break) But I promise, I am going to try and keep writing on this. I'm so sorry!

Oh, yeah, and please review! I love getting them!

Lady Dawson


	2. Blast from the Past

**Legacy: Lovers Lane**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Two: Blast from the Past

With a deep sigh, Wyatt Halliwell stepped out of the clinic from catching a few extra hours before his classes started, tossing his uniform into the backseat as he backed up into the San Francisco traffic. If he was lucky—and by lucky, he meant extraordinarily lucky—then he might be able to make it before his name was called.

Navigating his way through traffic, Wyatt noted that there was a black car following him, the windows tinted, so he couldn't see who it was that was in the car. Pulling into the next lane so he could let them pass, Wyatt frowned as they simply copied his movements, not letting him out of their sight for an instant.

"Okay, I so do not have time for this," he grumbled as he turned onto the school drive, pulling into one of the parking lots. The car was still following him as he ducked behind his car, waiting for them to pass. To his surprise, he saw them park in the visitors parking and a well-dressed business man stepped out, slipping off a pair of sunglasses as he did so. Another man, just as well dressed, climbed out as well, looking at the driver carefully.

Their voices were too low for Wyatt to catch any of what they were staying, but he could tell that they were demons, even from that far away. The only question was, what did they want?

Rather than sit around and wait for them to attack when he was least expecting it, Wyatt launched forward, managing to tackle the driver, pinning him down on the hood of the car. His partner jumped forward, but the demon Wyatt had pinned waved his hand back, stopping him from doing anything. "Can I help you with something?"

"Yeah," Wyatt said flatly. "You can tell me why you were following me. In about ten seconds," he added, "because I'm slowly losing my patience and I don't have that much to begin with. Plus, I'm supposed to be in class right now, so I would talk fast."

"Following you? I don't—"

Wyatt pushed him further down on the car and the demon gasped in surprise, grabbing at his hands to lessen the air shortage. "I'm sorry, I think I forgot to mention, you only get one lie card. That was yours."

"You Wyatt Halliwell?" the demon asked finally. Wyatt nodded shortly, eyeing him suspiciously. Either this guy didn't know who he was or he clearly needed to up his rep in the Underworld. But either way, he obviously didn't work for Connelly. Those guys knew them by sight by now. "You're dating that other witch Susan Dawson?"

"That's my brother's girlfriend," Wyatt growled, yanking him up, but not letting go of his grip on him. "What do you want with her?"

"Us?" The demon chuckled dangerously. "We don't want anything with her. It's the Master that has business with an old friend of hers. And seeing that he's unwilling to cooperate, we're forced to having to resort to involving those he cares about. Which unfortunately is only one person."

Wyatt shook his head in bewilderment. "What are you talking about? Who's this Master guy?"

"Tell the girl that Tristan Hale would like to clear up some unfinished business and that if she doesn't cooperate, then he will have no choice but to harm those around her. Also kindly mention that it would be an awful shame if the ground around her dear brother would get awful crowded." Wyatt's eyes narrowed; he didn't know who Tristan Hale was or what his business was with Susan, but threatening his girl and brother? Not to mention Susan, who was becoming like a sister to him? That was when they crossed the line.

"I'll get the message to her," Wyatt assured him dangerously. "Can you get a message back to this Hale guy?" The demon nodded, though looked nervous. "Good." Wyatt slammed him back down onto the hood, making the glass shatter. "Tell him that if he or any of his come near my family, Susan, Brooke, or anybody connected to us, then he's gonna have to answer to me. I don't care what his business is with Susan, if he even so much harms one hair on her head, then he's gonna have three very upset witches to deal with. And none of us are going to take this lightly," he added, releasing him. "Now get out of here before I remind myself that it doesn't take two to deliver a message."

Not that he would vanquish them, considering it was broad daylight and anybody could see. But they didn't call his bluff; instead, they jumped back into the car and drove so fast that their tires squealed.

Wyatt took a deep breath, shaking his head as he checked his watch. He was already late by now. Susan, if he could remember right, had her painting class right now and she wouldn't be pleased if he interrupted that. Not to mention, he didn't even know where it was.

Making a mental note to track either her or Chris down later, Wyatt grabbed his bag before heading towards his biology class.

Class had already started by the time that he had arrived and the teacher frowned at him as he slipped through the door, taking the first seat that he saw available. "Nice of you to join us, Mr. Halliwell," he said sternly before moving on to the next point in the lecture.

Wyatt winced slightly, but just opened up his notebook to a clean page and started briskly to take notes just as he noticed that there was someone standing outside the door, watching him. But by the time that he looked up to get a closer look, the person had already disappeared.

Shaking his head to clear it of the headache that was forming behind his eyes, Wyatt decided that he should have just stayed in bed today. Late for class, disappearing stalkers, two demons who were working for some guy who had a vendetta with his brother's girlfriend? Wyatt was sure that he didn't want to tempt fate by asking what was going to happen next. Because with their luck, they would find something that was clearly an illustration of their bad sense of humour.

--

Brooke groaned as she stepped out of the shower, blow drying her hair as fast as she could before swooping off to her bedroom to get dressed. At this rate, there was no point in even going to class, but if she didn't make it to her English class, then Susan would know about it, since they had the same lecture, and she'd never hear the end of it.

"Hey."

Letting out a shriek, Brooke whirled around to find Brandon James standing in the doorway, a little smile on the corners of his lips as he watched her scramble to get ready.

"It's nice to know that some things never change," he commented, folding his arms across his chest. "Susan yell at you for still being in bed when she came in here earlier?" he queried, his eyebrows knitting together when he talked about his . . . charge. Brooke couldn't even let herself _think_ about the other word.

"Yeah, a little bit. She's been acting a little bit peculiar the past couple of weeks. Do you think she knows?"

Brandon sighed. "She knows something, though I'm not sure exactly she knows what we're up to. Of course, I'm not entirely sure what we're doing either, anyway. Because I don't feel right about putting Susan in the middle of this, which she is ultimately stuck in, considering her position."

Brooke sighed. "I know, I feel horrible about it, but . . . you know, if you just told her, then I'm sure that she would be a lot more understanding," she said hopefully. Brandon just gave her a look and she sighed. "You can't blame a girl for trying. I just don't like lying to her about this. It's not fair. You know that's what she'd say."

"I know. 'You can watch over me and know that I'm okay, but I can look at a perfect stranger and not know that it's you, so I'm forced to wonder if you're okay,'" Brandon said smoothly, pulling off a perfect imitation of Susan's voice. "She can't know who I am, Brooke. If she does . . . it'll be a lot harder for her. She already has enough to deal with."

"Yeah, especially since Connelly's been after and she's been worried sick about Bobby still living there," she mused. "Brandon, we really need to talk sometime, because . . . we need to figure something out."

Just as Brandon opened his mouth to say something, the phone rang in the hallway, causing both of them to jump and Brooke's hand went to her forehead as she walked out, picking up the cordless. "Hello, Dawson/Murphy residence," she said as she tried to brush out her hair at the same time. There was silence on the other end. "Hello, is somebody there?"

"Hi, can I please speak with Susan?" a male voice said on the other end. Brooke frowned slightly; that voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it. Maybe it was an old friend from Wisconsin . . .

"Sorry, she headed off to school a little while ago. But I'll be happy to tell her that you called. Who is this, anyway?" she asked as she opened the drawer, pulling out a piece of paper and a pen, prepared to take a name and number for Susan.

"Uh . . . this is Ethan Hale," the guy on the other end said hesitantly. "Just tell her that . . . she might be in big trouble and to lay low for a few days. And . . . not to go up any dark alleys." Brooke frowned at the cryptic message, but didn't question it.

"Okay, is there a number I can take, so she can call you back?" Brooke asked when she finished writing down the message. This guy was definitely a little weird, she thought.

"She knows my number," Ethan replied softly. "She'll know how to get in touch with me if she needs to. Just give that message." He let out a deep sigh that sounded mournful. "She'll know exactly what it means."

Brooke opened her mouth to ask more, but only received a dial tone in response. Staring at the phone, she replaced it back in the receiver before turning to Brandon. "What is it with Susan and strange guys?" she asked dryly.

"Who was that?"

"Just some guy asking for Susan, giving her some warning that she might be in danger," Brooke answered with a shrug. Brandon looked worried, but didn't pursue the subject. "Anyway, I need to get to class before I miss my second one."

"Want a ride?" Brandon offered, holding out his hand to her. Brooke's eyes lit up at the offer and she eagerly took his hand. It was much better than driving, she thought happily as she was carried up by white lights, heading towards the college, safely in the empty girls' room.

"Okay, see, you do this every time. I'm starting to think that you just orb me someplace so you can take a look in the girls' bathroom," she complained. Brandon laughed.

"No, it's just the safest place to land, besides the janitor's closet and there's not nearly enough room in there." He hesitated, but then moved closer, pressing his lips against Brooke's and she kissed him back, marvelling in the feeling, but also feeling guilty about betraying Wyatt and Susan like this. "I'll see you later. Call me if you need a ride home."

Brooke watched as he vanished in a series of white lights before she hitched her bag higher on her shoulder before heading out of the bathroom. But just as she exited the bathroom, a girl with long blonde hair stepped out of one of the stalls, a small smirk on her face at what she had just witnessed.

"Oh, this is going to get interesting," Cassandra Hale said, a triumphant smile on her face as she shimmered away to report the news of what she'd seen. He was going to be pleased by this particular piece of information.

Ever so pleased.

--

Susan sighed as she walked through the campus during the hour break that she had between the two classes she had in the morning and the one she had in the afternoon, heading towards the lunchroom to buy something to eat, but halfway there, she had the particular feeling that she was being followed.

Glancing over her shoulder, she couldn't see anybody that was tailing her, but she couldn't dismiss her warnings; after all, having some precognition ability, it would be futile to ignore it. And she'd had warnings like this before and they'd often times saved her life.

Slipping through one of the Fine Arts buildings, Susan hurried up the stairs before tugging on an unused classroom, exasperation filling through her when she found it was locked.

Concentrating hard, Susan conjured lightning in her hands, blasting open the door and slipping inside just as someone was climbing up the stairs, slowly and carefully. Susan's senses tingled slightly; there was something familiar about the way he was trailing her. Almost as if she had been trailed by this person before.

Not that demons were particularly people. Except for the few that had decided to live their life in peace and try and make amends. Susan pushed that thought out of her mind; she couldn't think about _him_ right now.

Just when the person stopped right in front of the door, she swung it open, knocking him down to the ground and she rushed out, a potion already in hand and about to throw it when the guy's face was thrown into light.

"Ethan!" she gasped, staring down at her ex-boyfriend, who looked up at her with an expression of guilt and delight.


	3. Return of an Old Love

**Legacy: Lovers Lane**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Three: Return of an Old Love

There was nothing that Susan could do as she stared down at Ethan, disbelief ripping through her as she gawked at him, unable to believe that she was really seeing him. If he were still evil, it would've been so easy for him to kill her right then and there, because she was rendered completely immobile as she stood there, clutching her potion.

Ethan was looking up at her from where he was lying on the floor where she knocked him down with furtive eyes. Eyes that, once upon a time, had drawn her like a moth to a flame. "Susan," he said softly and she couldn't help but shiver slightly. His voice . . . it was like he had never left. "It's good to see you. You look good."

"And you look like you need to give me an explanation, in about two seconds here," Susan replied, taking a quick look around to see if there was anybody nearby, but the halls were deserted. However, she offered her hand to help him up before pushing him into the deserted classroom she'd been hiding in before. "What's going on here, Ethan? What are you doing here?"

"Okay, for the record, I'm just trying to save your life," Ethan retorted, glaring at her. She cocked an eyebrow at this and he sighed. "It's happening, Sue. It's happening _now_."

Susan's breath caught in her chest and her eyes went wide in disbelief, realising what he meant. "You mean . . .?"

Ethan nodded grimly, moving to sit down on one of the desks, placing his legs in the seat. Susan moved to sit across from him, hardly able to believe this new piece of information. "Dad's not too pleased that I've taken up with the witch regime. He's been sending demons after me day and night so that I can either give in to my evil side or to obliterate me completely."

"And I thought mine was bad," Susan said dryly. Ethan blinked in confusion and she shook her head. "I'll tell you later. So . . . what, they've decided that it's too much for them to handle to just kill you? Now they want to get me involved in this?"

"Dad's playing on my human side," Ethan said miserably. "Take away the person I care about most in this world and I'll come willingly. Can't say that he's wrong about that," he added quietly, glancing sideways at her before looking away.

Susan's heart pained, but she looked away. "Ethan," she said softly, "don't. It's in the past now. And . . . and I've got a boyfriend now. I can't just drop everything just because things are looking bad."

"Have you forgotten what happened the last time they came after you?" Ethan growled at her, moving swiftly over to her and gripping her shoulders so tightly that Susan gasped, trying to pull away. He realised this and withdrew his hands, looking away. "Sorry. But don't you remember?"

Lowering her gaze, Susan's thoughts drifted back to those fateful months, after Ethan's father Tristan had found out that not only had Ethan abandoned his orders to kill Susan, but he had fallen in love with the witchlighter and renounced his demonic ways. Now, as a half-demon, he used his powers to protect the innocent.

She closed her eyes as the memories filled through her, taking her through a journey in time.

**Flashback**

_Susan and Ethan were walking alongside the main road in Chippewa Falls, the night sky illuminating the two forbidden lovers as they held each other's hands, Ethan gazing at her as if she were the only person who existed in the world._

_As much as she hated to, Susan drew away, looking up at him mournfully. "I should get home," she said apologetically. "Mom's going to be wondering where I am." _

_"You can be a little bit longer," Ethan said teasingly as he swooped her up into his arms, spinning her around. Susan squealed and giggled as he twirled the two of them around. _

_"Ethan, don't!" Susan shrieked, unable to stop laughing. "Don't drop me!" The pair was laughing as he stopped spinning, but didn't let her down and she gazed up into her boyfriend's eyes, hardly able to believe that she could love someone so much so fast. It seemed like just yesterday that he had arrived in Chippewa Falls, bent on killing her and Ryan. _

_"I love you," Ethan whispered. Susan thought she sensed something nearby, but she was too engrossed in his words to even pay attention. _

_"I love you," she said softly, cupping his head in her hands. "Always." Ethan smiled as he kissed her palm before navigating it to his heart and she felt the steady beat of his heart. _

_"It's belonged to you since the first day that I saw you," he said softly. "A beautiful girl in that blue shirt with the purple flowers on it." _

_Susan was surprised. "You remember what I was wearing the first time you saw me?" she asked, a bit embarrassed by the attention. Ethan laughed and nodded, his brown eyes twinkling. "Okay . . . that's sweet and a little bit embarrassing. Especially considering you were evil, then," she mused and he laughed harder. _

_Once he'd gotten control of his laughter, Ethan smiled as he looked down at her and Susan's heart fluttered, as it did every time that he looked at her like that. She closed her eyes as she bent down, his lips brushing against hers in the passionate and emotion kiss that had always existed between the two of them. _

_They were so engrossed in that kiss that neither one of them were aware that they were being set upon by demons until a fireball came hurling towards them. Ethan scrambled to get them out of danger, dropping Susan in the process. _

_That was the first time that she had ever laid eyes on Tristan Hale, Ethan's cold, cruel demonic father. And that was the night that she was captured by him, to endure endless torture for two months before Ryan and Ethan managed to rescue her. But it had left scars that were too deeply wounded for any of them to heal. _

_With the realisation that their being together would only put Susan in even more danger, Ethan had left town and that was the last time that she'd seen him._

**End Flashback**

"I remember," Susan said softly, finally looking back up to meet Ethan's remorseful eyes again. "But Ethan . . . I can't just leave. It's not just Chris. I've got friends here who depending on me. Not to mention, I have a little brother. I can't just abandon him—"

"Little brother?" Ethan echoed in disbelief.

Susan sighed and began relaying to him the events of the recent months, starting with the deaths of her family, her and Brooke leaving Chippewa Falls, the move to San Francisco, her relationship with Chris and Brooke's with Wyatt, the discovery of her father and his hand in her family's demise, and his desperation to get her and her friends out of the way.

By the time that she was finished, Ethan looked at her with a mixture of shock, horror, and disbelief. "Why didn't you call me?" he said softly, moving over to her and placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. She allowed him to wrap his arms around her in comfort. "Why didn't you call me and let me know what was going on? You know I would've helped."

"I didn't want to call you just because I needed you!" Susan yelled. Ethan raised an eyebrow and she blinked, reconsidering her words. "Okay, that made a lot more sense when I was dealing with Mom and Ryan's deaths." Although he looked like he was fighting a smile, Ethan had the grace not to laugh. "What are we going to do?"

"Leave," Ethan said simply, holding out his hand to her. Susan stared at him. "We'll leave for someplace safe. I'll keep an eye out for your friends and your brother and we'll come back if they happen to be in danger."

Susan let out an aggravated noise. "Haven't you been listening? I can't just run off with you! I can't just take off on them without any notice, especially not with my demon ex-boyfriend!"

"We're talking about your life being in danger, Sue. Plus theirs if Dad finds out they're connected to you."

She sighed, looking away from him. "Yeah, I know that."

--

Bobby Connelly pushed open the door to his house, taking a quick glance around the foyer before he entered. In the recent weeks, things had gone from bad to worse since the destruction of the Avenger and his sister and her friends' escape from here. If anything, his father was even worse than he had been before this happened.

It was a miracle that his father hadn't noticed his helping them during the chaos that was the battle between the Avenger and Susan and her friends. Bobby released a small breath, climbing up the steps as he headed towards his bedroom.

At least, that's where he was headed when he heard voices talking in his father's office. One was quite obviously his father, but the other was low, dangerous, and deadly. Not unusual in this house, but when Bobby heard his sister's name, he stopped where he was to listen.

". . . if you want to get the girl involved, Tristan, that's your business. My hat would be tipped to you if you managed to kill that wretched girl. However, Susan is unfortunately under the protection of the Halliwell brothers, which means that you'll have to get all four of them out of the way if you have any hope to accomplish your means."

"Then I can count on your cooperation in this mission, Peter?" Tristan replied smoothly.

"Absolutely. Nothing would give me more pleasure than to see that girl lying in a grave next to her brother."

"It would've made things a lot simpler if you hadn't had that scandalous affair with that Whitelighter. After all, Peter, if that hadn't happened, your daughter never would have existed."

Peter's growl was evident even from where Bobby stood, listening. "That girl is not my daughter. She shares my blood, my family's legacy, the powers handed down through the Cromwells, but she is no child of mine. I should have slaughtered her in her crib."

"Nevertheless, you did father her. But no matter, that can't be helped now. I have my best assassins out looking for her and will catch her when she is off her guard. And then, when she least expects it, we will capture her and lure that wayward son of mine in. He won't dare to risk her life. I believe that is the reason he left her in the first place."

Bobby frowned slightly; what were they talking about? As far as he knew, his sister had never had a boyfriend before Chris. Certainly, that's what his father's informants had said.

"I'm going to have to get better spies," Peter said thoughtfully, as if he had heard Bobby's train of thought. "They hadn't mentioned that she had ever been involved with someone beside the Halliwell boy. Especially with a demon. That could work to my advantage in regards to stopping the brothers, when the time comes."

"I'll be happy to give you all the information about my son's inflammation with that witch. Unless I'm much mistaken, the two were hopelessly in love until I captured her and tortured her." His tone was gleeful even as Bobby's blood turned cold and he felt sick. This guy had captured Susan and _tortured_ her? "Apparently, Ethan decided he was too much of a danger to her and left. But I doubt he's forgotten her. And neither has she. Humans have this annoying tendency not to forget their first love. And their love was infamous. A Cromwell witch and a half-demon . . ."

"Speaking of choosing the wrong mothers for our children, how is your wife? Still trapped in a coma after giving birth to that boy?" Peter's tone was amused as Bobby thought that it was best to slip away while he was still undiscovered and hurried up to his room, shutting the door behind him, glancing towards the ceiling.

"Brandon!" he hissed, not daring to speak any louder in case his father was listening. "Brandon, I need to talk to you. It's about Susan."

White lights travelled down, swirling into view and Brandon looked at him, his expression worried and alarmed. "What is it?" he asked anxiously. "What's going on?"

"Who's Ethan?" Bobby asked recklessly. Brandon froze, his eyes going wide and he looked shocked.

"Ethan?" he repeated softly. "Ethan Hale?"

"I guess. Who is he?"

"He's . . ." Brandon swallowed. "He's a demon. Half-demon actually. He's Susan's forbidden love. He left town after his dad held her captive for two months and nearly killed her." He shook his head, a hint of disdain written on his face. "What's he got to do with this?"

"Well, this guy named Tristan is downstairs with Dad and it sounds like they're joining forces so he can capture Susan and lure this Ethan guy into a trap."

Brandon's eyes went wide and Bobby held out his hand, preparing himself for orbing as they went off in search of Susan.

But she was nowhere to be found.


	4. Ethan and Susan's Past

**Legacy: Lovers Lane**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Four: Ethan and Susan's Past

Chris sighed as he leaned against the car, checking his watch for the umpteenth time. He had told Susan that he'd wait for her after her last class—even though she assured him it wasn't necessary—but this was getting ridiculous. Her class should have ended an hour ago and she still wasn't here. If he didn't leave soon, he was going to be late for work and his mom wasn't going to be happy.

Shaking his head, he picked up his phone, scrolling down for Susan's number and pressed the call button, waiting for someone on the other end to pick up. After about five rings, he got her voicemail and he slammed the phone shut in frustration. "Where could she possibly be?" he wondered, shaking his head as he saw Brooke heading towards the car. This did nothing to improve his mood as she smiled up at him pleasantly.

"Hey," she greeted him cheerfully. "Have you seen Susan? She wasn't in English class and it's not like her to skip a class, unless it's for work. Did something happen that I don't know about?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Chris answered, immediately worried. "She was supposed to meet me an hour ago." Could something have happened to cause her to have to leave beforehand? he wondered.

Brooke bit her lip. "Well, maybe she's at home, doing research or something," she suggested.

"Maybe," Chris muttered, not liking the situation at all. Moving over to the driver's seat, he climbed in while Brooke pulled open the passenger's side and slid in. "Have you heard from her since she left this morning?" he asked as he navigated his way through traffic.

"Nope." Brooke shook her head. "No, she left for class this morning and I haven't heard a word from her since. Plus, I think her phone's turned off, because I tried calling her a couple times and she hasn't picked up." She glanced sideways at Chris, but he refused to look at her, knowing he wasn't going to be able to keep his temper if he did.

"Is something wrong?" she asked tentatively.

"My girlfriend's missing, how is there not something wrong with that?" Chris snapped, still not looking at her.

"I actually meant something else," Brooke replied, frowning at him. "You seem a bit more upset than just that, you're gripping the steering wheel like you're choking it . . . you won't look me in the eye." Chris refused to say anything as he rounded the corner. "I'm sure she's fine. We'd have heard from some of Connelly's demons if they had her or something like that."

"Connelly's not the only monster out there," Chris growled, keeping his eyes on the road. "And what makes you think that what I'm upset about has anything to do with Susan? She _is_ able to take care of herself."

"Last I checked, I haven't done anything to you."

Chris slammed on his breaks as he came to a stoplight and he turned to look at Brooke, green eyes blazing with fury now. "No," he agreed. "Actually, it's something that you're doing. To my brother," he added flatly.

Brooke's eyes flew to his, shock written on her face. "How do you—?"

"Susan saw you, Brooke. She saw you kissing Brandon a couple weeks ago. Why else do you think she's been acting so strange?" Chris snarled at her, whipping into the parking lot of their apartment building and pulling into a spot. "And to be honest, I don't know how she can stand to be friends with you, after you first hurt her brother and now you've betrayed Wyatt. Honestly, why do you keep doing this?"

"It's a bit more complicated than you think," Brooke said in a small voice, though the shame on her face was evident. Well, that was at least something. At least she was ashamed of what she was doing.

"No, it's not complicated. It's simple. You have a boyfriend, Brooke. So you don't go around kissing other guys whenever you feel the need arise. Especially after what you and Wyatt went through when he found out that you were dating Ryan before he died."

Brooke said nothing as they climbed out of the car, Chris slammed the door a little harder than he ended as he climbed up the stairs two at a time with Brooke trailing behind him, looking down at the ground.

"I can tell you one thing, Brooke," he said as she walked around him to unlock the girls' apartment, "you had better tell my brother what's going on, because I don't want to be the one to tell him that the woman he loves is breaking his heart and I'm sure not going to put Susan in that position."

Brooke looked at him, taking a defensive position. "Resorting to threats?" she muttered. "We really are sinking, aren't we?"

She opened the door to find it completely deserted. Chris looked around the apartment. There was no one there, though he could tell that someone had been there recently.

"Susan?" Brooke called hesitantly as she flipped on the switch, heading further into the apartment before glancing cautiously at Chris, who headed straight into her room, pushing open the door and turning on the light. But there was no one there either. "Where is she?"

"I don't know," Chris muttered, stepping further into the room. "Brooke, there's stuff missing." Some clothes, a few knickknacks, some photographs, her _Book of Shadows_ . . . "The Book's gone."

"What?!" Brooke hurried over to where he was standing, looking around the room and trying desperately to see if he had just missed it. "But that's impossible . . . Susan's the only one who can take it from the apartment. Only a legitimate Cromwell heir can take it from the place of its holding."

Chris's eyes narrowed slightly, the knowledge that he knew, yet was kept hidden from Brooke and Wyatt, filling him with the answer. "Her dad?"

"Obviously," Brooke said distractedly. "But we have absolutely no idea who her father is or where he could be. . . . She could be in Australia, for all we know. Oh," she said suddenly. "Here's her phone. No wonder we could reach her," she muttered. "Susan, I'm gonna kill you when we find you."

"If she's not already dead," Chris said mournfully as he fell to his knees. Brooke sighed, running her hands over her eyes as she headed back into the living room, hoping to find some clue as to where Susan might be.

"Hey, Chris!" she called, noticing something that she should have realised before now. "There's a message on the machine." Chris hurried out of the bedroom as she pressed the play button.

The first thing that they heard was a lot of background noise, indicating a big crowd, before the most joyful sound they could've heard started speaking.

_"Hey, Brooke, and Chris and Wyatt, if you guys are there,"_ Susan said on the answering machine. _"Sorry if I scared you guys, but I can't really explain right now. There's some stuff going on that has to deal with my past, something that I can't get you guys involved in. I've got to leave town for a little while. Hopefully, it'll be taken care of quickly and I'll be back soon. If not . . . then, I'll be back as soon as I can. Don't come after me. This is way too dangerous. Once things are safe again, I'll come back. Just please trust me on this. I call you guys soon, I promise." _

Chris couldn't breathe as he stared down at the answering machine, his girlfriend's voice vanishing through thin air. Gone. She was gone, disappeared and he couldn't even follow her. She would've taken steps to make sure that they couldn't track her.

Before the revelation could so much as sink it, the door opened and Wyatt walked in, looking highly worried. "Hey, you guys are not going to believe what happened today," he said before looking around. "Where's Susan? She should probably be here for this."

Brooke and Chris looked at each other before looking at Wyatt, whose anxiety heightened by the looks on their faces. "What happened?" he asked.

--

Brandon shook his head as he met up with Bobby on the campus after splitting up to search for the wayward witchlighter. "Any sign of her?" he asked and Bobby shook his head, his expression panicked. "Didn't think so. Jeez, I can't even get a lock on her; she blocking me."

"Nothing?" Bobby looked incredulous. "I thought you guys could . . . sense each other, you know, have some sort of empathic link."

"We do, but somehow, she's cut it off. Plus, her emotions are sky-high right now; they're bouncing all over the place. Even if she would let me, I couldn't lock it down." Brandon sighed. "Okay, you are sure that it was Tristan Hale that your dad was talking to, right?"

"Positive," Bobby assured him. "What's the deal with this guy, anyway? Why'd he kidnap her before and why's he after her now?"

Releasing a sigh, Brandon moved over to sit down on a bench, Bobby following him. "Ethan came after Susan and her brother a couple years ago. He was a pretty notorious demon, powerful, and one of the best at killing witches. And his father sent him after them, though we never found out why. And for awhile, Ethan stuck to the plan. He was using every means of destroying them that he could. Then something amazing happened."

"He fell for Susan," Bobby guessed.

Brandon nodded, distracted. "And more importantly, she was in love with him as well. See, he was posing as a new student there. Being half-demon, he could easily assimilate himself as a human. Susan had become friends with him, though neither she nor Ryan was aware of his demonic parentage or his true intentions. Not until he managed to kidnap Susan.

"Had her compassion for him not been so strong, he might have carried out his orders, despite his feelings for her. His father had grown tired of waiting for Ethan to kill us, so he sent other assassins to do the job. But they wanted Ethan out of the way as well, so he was injured when he kidnapped her. Instead of using the situation to her advantage, Susan nursed his wounds and cared for him. Her kindness, I think, was what made his humanity take over and to start using his powers for good, to help people.

"I don't think anybody was prepared for how strong their relationship was going to be or how much in love they were. Susan's relationship with Chris is only half of what hers was with Ethan, even if she doesn't want to admit it to herself. She's still in love with him. I don't think she'll ever stop. But when his father learned what he did, that he turned his back on everything he'd been raised to believe, he captured Susan, wanting to lure Ethan back to evil.

"It might have worked, had he been prepared for the strength of Susan and Ethan's love, but he underestimated it and when Ethan saw what had happened to his girl, he lost control, gave into the demon inside him. But while he gave into the evil inside him, he unleashed it onto his father, the demons in that cave . . . anyone who was there that wasn't aligned to good. Tristan was barely able to escape with his life."

Brandon sighed, running his hand over his face, glancing sideways at Bobby. "Ethan _barely_ was able to regain control and had it not been for the fact that Susan was so hurt and so much in pain, he might not have. It took her over a month to recover from the injuries . . . only to find out that he was leaving her.

"Ethan believed that his father was going to come after her again and the only way to keep her safe was for him to stay as far away from her as he could. She was so miserable after he left . . ."

"But he still loves her," Bobby said softly and Brandon nodded, knowing the truth of the words. Despite the two years that they'd been apart, Ethan's love for Susan had never ceased. "She's his weak link. That's why they're doing this now."

"Somehow, Susan must've been tipped off. And she wouldn't risk being captured again or putting her friends at risk. If she knew Tristan was coming after her, then I don't really doubt she would've run in order to keep them—and you—safe. It's the only explanation as to why nobody's able to find her. She would've taken steps so we couldn't track her."

"What do we do?" Bobby said, standing up and starting to pace back and forth across the sidewalk. "I mean . . . if she's gone, that's not going to stop this guy from coming after us. You should've heard him . . . he and Dad are good buddies; I could tell just from the way they were talking. If you want my guess, I'd say that Dad was the person who got Tristan to send Ethan after Susan and Ryan in the first place."

Brandon surveyed Susan's younger brother critically. "It's possible. The only thing we can do right now is stay out of the way. Once Tristan gets word that Susan left, he won't stay here."

"You sure about that?" Bobby said doubtfully. Brandon rolled his eyes; of course he was sure! Would he say that if he wasn't? "It's just . . . he didn't sound like he was playing by the same old rules. He and Dad were going to work together on this one."

Pausing, Brandon's eyebrows narrowed together tightly. "We need to find Susan, now."

Frowning slightly, Bobby suddenly grinned in triumph. "What about a blood-to-blood spell?" he asked mischievously, causing Brandon to grin back, a mischievous look in his eyes as they headed into one of the buildings to orb to the apartment for the spell.


	5. An Old Enemy

**Legacy: Lovers Lane**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Five: An Old Enemy

Susan sat on the couch in the hotel room that she and Ethan had rented just outside of Mackinaw City, the Book of Shadows set in her lap as she flipped through it, searching for the entry on Ethan's dad. She shivered slightly, feeling guilty about abandoning her friends and her brother, but there had been no other option. The only way that Tristan would not come after them was if she left with Ethan.

Besides that, she couldn't risk getting captured by him again. Her eyes slammed shut as she remembered the agony and tortures of her captivity. Everything that she had gone through since arriving in San Francisco seemed like a breeze compared to that. She never wanted to go through that again, didn't want to go back to wondering if she would make it until morning, always praying for a rescue.

Picking up the cup of hot chocolate, Susan sipped the hot drink, trying to rub warmth back into her hands. She must've gotten more used to the warm weather of California than she'd realised, because the freezing temperatures in the dead of Michigan winter was making her shiver.

Unfortunately, that was the one bad thing about California, she mused as she continued to flip through the Book. She missed winter and snow and ice-skating. Granted, it there were a couple of skating rinks in San Francisco she could probably go into, but it wasn't the same.

"Did you find it?" Ethan's voice broke her train of thought and she jumped, startled, before looking around at the half-demon. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," he apologised as he moved over to the couch. Susan instantly moved to make room for him and he peered over to look at the Book as she flipped through it again.

"It's okay," she said, returning her attention to the Book as she set her mug back on the table. "I know it's in here somewhere . . . here we go!" she said as she finally found it, laying the page flap open to the entry on Tristan Hale. There was a pretty grotesque picture of him, the crude drawing showing none of the reality that was the cruel, sadistic demon. Because in reality, he had a handsome face, the kind that made women ignore his evil presence and an alluring persona. "Did you want to look at this?"

"That's okay," Ethan said dryly. "The last time I touched that thing, in just about shocked my arm off."

"You were also evil then, sweetie," Susan pointed out with a small smile, the affectionate term rolling off her tongue more easily than it ever had with Chris. Now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure that she had ever used one of those names when talking to him.

Nevertheless, it made both ex-lovers shift uncomfortably as they turned back to the subject at hand. Susan cleared her throat as she looked down at the page. "Okay, it's nothing that we don't already know. What his powers are, Upper Level demon . . . no known vanquishing potion or spell."

Ethan looked at her sharply. "Did you ever manage to make that vanquishing potion you were gonna create?" he asked. Susan shook her head helplessly.

"No, I've still got that knife with his blood on it. None of the potions even nicked it," Susan sighed as she leaned back against the couch, shutting the book shut and setting it onto the table. Ethan was quiet for a long minute before he finally spoke.

"What if we used some of his DNA?" he suggested softly. Susan raised her head to look at him. "I mean, would that make any difference? He's an Upper Level demon, so some of his DNA could break through whatever shield his blood's got up against your potions. Because, let's face it, no one has ever survived going up against one of your brews."

Susan blushed at the compliment as she smiled at Ethan. "Okay, but where are we going to get some of his . . .?" she began, then trailed off as Ethan gave her a wry smile and a pointed look. "Oh. Right. Wait a minute, I am _not_ hacking off some of your flesh to vanquish your father!"

"Who's asking you to?" Ethan retorted, rolling his eyes as he stood up. "I was actually going to suggest using some of my blood to make it work." He sighed as he took hold of Susan's hand, rubbing it gently and she shivered, revelling in the feeling, allowing herself a moment of pleasure before she pulled away from him.

"Ethan, don't," she said sadly. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be. When this is all over, then it's done. You'll go back to your world and I'll go back to mine. And you and I . . . it won't work, us together . . . allies, yeah, but not lovers. We can't be."

"I know." Ethan's voice was heavy, resigned. "It doesn't mean that I don't miss you, though."

Susan nodded miserably. "I've missed you, too."

Silence fell through the room before Susan stood up, heading towards the kitchen area of the hotel room, searching through the cabinets until she found a big enough pot to cook the potion in. "Okay, let's see . . . do you know if there's a herbalist or metaphysical shop nearby?" she asked, looking at Ethan. He nodded, standing up.

"Just give me a list of the stuff you need, I'll go and get it," he told her, tossing her a pen and paper from the nightstand. She caught it, trying to think of the potion that she'd made that had almost scratched that knife. For a minute, she thought that it was going to work.

When she was done, he picked up the list, scanning it carefully before nodding. "I can get most of this stuff easily enough, but it might take me a little while to track down a few of them."

Susan smiled faintly. "Who's gonna find me here?" she asked dryly. "Come on, not even Ryan knew that we snuck away here a few times just to have some time by ourselves." Those days seemed so long ago, almost another lifetime ago. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

"Hmm." Ethan raised a teasing eyebrow at her, his lips curved into a smirk. "Now where have I heard that before? Maybe it was right before you were so sure that you could take on that Brute demon, even though you didn't have complete control over your weather power just then? Or maybe it was when you had that sprained ankle and insisted on climbing the stairs by yourself? Or how about the time that—"

"Ethan Matthew Hale!" Susan yelled, half-amused, half-annoyed as he grinned at her. "Just go get the stuff, will you?"

"Sure, sure," Ethan replied, rolling his eyes. "Just be careful, will you? I haven't gone through all of this trouble just to have you get killed here." Susan smiled at him and, without thinking, leaned towards him, kissing his cheek, causing them both to stare at each other. Susan cleared her throat as she stepped away from him, her cheeks flushing.

"I'll be okay," she said reassuringly, touching his arm gently. "I promise." Ethan nodded as he touched her cheek and she leaned into the caress, looking up at the man who had, once upon a time, been the love of her life.

He looked like he wanted to say something, but instead, just shook his head to clear it. "I'll be back soon," he said, picking up the keys to the rental car and the hotel card key, heading out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Susan sighed as she stared where he had vanished, moving towards the Book when white lights suddenly appeared in the living room. Automatically, she took a dive towards the counter, grabbing some of her potions, ready for combat when the lights shimmered into a familiar form and she lowered her defences when she saw the familiar form of her younger brother. He was immediately followed by her Whitelighter.

"Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me," she complained, running her hands over her eyes as she looked at them incredulously.

--

Wyatt could hardly believe his ears when his brother told him that Susan had taken off. Something had to be wrong; this wasn't Susan. She didn't just take off on her friends. Especially considering his little conversation with those demons earlier.

Pacing back and forth across the girls' apartment, he turned to Chris once again. "Okay, are you sure that you can't sense her?"

"I've been trying, but she's blocked off every path that I could have taken," Chris sighed from where he sat on the couch, looking thoroughly depressed. Brooke was sitting across from him, an old yearbook placed in her knees as she flipped through it, scanning each page intently before moving on to the next one.

Staring at his girlfriend, Wyatt moved over to where she sat. "Brooke," he asked, looking over her shoulder. "Honey, what are you doing?"

"Trying to find that guy that called here this morning, asking for Susan," Brooke said, still looking down at the book. Chris raised his head, looking incredulously at Brooke before looking at Wyatt, who had an equally astonished look on his face.

"Okay, back up, what are you talking about?" Chris demanded, getting to his feet, staring at Brooke.

"Oh, sorry . . . forgot you guys didn't know," she said, actually sounding apologetic. "Some guy named Ethan Hale called this morning, asking for Susan. He was really weird, too. When I asked for a number so she could call him back, he just said really cryptically, 'She'll know how to get in touch with me if she needs me.'" She took a breath. "But he sounded familiar. I just thought that maybe we might've gone to school with him or something."

Chris shook his head, making a disgusted noise in the back of his throat. "And you're just telling us this _now_?" he demanded. "Who's this Ethan Hale?"

"I don't know. . . . He might've been somebody that Ryan and Susan knew before I started hanging out with them. Before I started helping them with demons and stuff, I was . . . wild. They were the last people that I would've hung out with."

"Too bad that the only person we could have ask is continently disappeared," Wyatt grumbled. "First those demons this morning, now this . . . what is going on with her? It's not like her to just take off like this, especially if there was a demon involved. She knows we'd help her."

"Maybe that's what she's afraid of," Brooke said bluntly. Both brothers looked at her in surprise. "Look . . . Susan's been doing this since she was thirteen years old. She has made a _lot_ of enemies. And if one of those has a vendetta against her, then I don't doubt that she would take off because she doesn't want us to get hurt. And it sounds like that's exactly what she was doing from the recording."

Chris shook his head. "It sounded like it was a lot more than that, Brooke," he retorted, getting to his feet. "I just want my girlfriend back; that's all that I care about."

"Well, I might be able to help you with that," a female voice said from behind them, causing all three witches to spin around to look at the new arrival. Chris, instantly, flicked his wrists, causing the newcomer to duck and he hit the lamp instead, shattering it to bits. "Watch it! Somebody might think that you don't like visitors."

"Not demonic ones," Chris growled as Wyatt sent the couch flying into the demon, who shimmered out and reappeared behind them.

"Would you relax?" she snapped, irritated now. "Look, I am not here to fight you. There's one among you missing. Your girlfriend, right?" she added with a small smirk.

Brooke took a step towards her. "If you have laid one hand on my best friend . . ." she said warningly.

"Oh, please," the demon scoffed. "If I wanted to kill her, then she would already be dead. She would've been dead years ago, if that's what I wanted. No, that's not what I'm after. And neither is my father Tristan. We're quite content to let that little witch go. For the time being, anyway," she added, rolling her eyes. "Our concern right now is getting my brother back." She smiled. "And I believe that you can help me."

The three witches in the room looked at each other, all of them sceptical and disbelieving, but if it meant getting Susan back . . .

"Who are you?" Wyatt asked after a long, tense minute.

"Cassandra Hale," she replied, moving towards the couch and sitting down on it. "No need for introductions, I know who you all are. Now . . . I know that you don't want this to end all sticky for Miss Dawson, so you help me get Ethan and you'll get your girlfriend without a scratch on her."

"What are you talking about?" Brooke demanded. "You're a demon, which means that this Ethan is also a demon. Why would Susan join forces with your brother?"

Cassandra let out a laugh that was filled with delight. "Oh, don't tell me that you don't know. Unbelievable, that the little witch wouldn't have found the guts to tell any of you about it."

"Anything about what?" Chris snarled at her. He was losing his patience and fast. Not that he had much left anyway . . .

"About Ethan. About her legendary love for my brother," Cassandra said mockingly as she stood up. Everyone stared at her. "It was a few years ago when my brother was sent after her, to kill both her and that twin of hers. But instead of killing her, Ethan fell helplessly in love with her. It's not too surprising. I'll admit that the girl has a pretty face and my brother is a man, after all. But what was even more shocking was that she returned his love . . . and he turned his back on everything for her. Instead of killing her, as he should have, he betrayed us, turned to good for her. And to this day, Ethan continues to help Innocents and fight the fight you witches so tediously fight for. He's never given up on it and never gave up on his love for Susan."

Chris couldn't breathe; Susan had never told him any of this, never said that she had ever been with anybody before him. Of course, they never really sat down to discuss previous relationships, but still . . .

And she really should have told him that she had been with a demon! Of all the beings in the universe, she had to pick a demon for a boyfriend!

"But my father and I are tired of him ruining this family. He is our father's only son and rightful heir, so . . ." She turned to look at them. "You three are going to help me track down Ethan. Help me with that and the little witch remains unharmed. Even though I would love to rip every vein from that pitiful mortal body of hers," she muttered under her breath, but that didn't stop them from hearing her.

"Okay, if this is to convince us to work with you, then you need to rethink your words," Chris said darkly. "Let's get one thing straight, if we do this, then your not coming after us or Susan ever."

Before Cassandra could retaliate, however, Wyatt chuckled disbelieving, looking at Cassandra. "Excuse us," he said, pushing his brother into the kitchen. Brooke followed them. "You can't possibly be considering this."

"Have you got a better idea?" Chris replied, whirling around on him. "Wy, I have got a bad feeling about this. It's only going to get worse."

"Okay, I'm not saying that it won't and I'm completely on board for tracking down Susan, but not with her," he added, jerking his thumb towards the demon in the living room. "We have tried working with demons before, remember? It never goes well."

"Well, it's gonna have to this time," Chris retorted. "Because I am sure not going to lose her."

"I don't mean to sound unsympathetic here . . ." Brooke began, causing both of them to look at her. "But what if we're doing the wrong thing? Susan left and I really think that she did it willingly. She asked us to trust her in the message, remember? What if she knows what she's doing? And if what she says about this Ethan is true, then . . . I don't think that we should help her. He's—"

"A demon, Brooke," Chris said flatly. "He is a demon and we vanquish demons; it's as simple as that."

Brooke and Wyatt exchanged a look and he felt a surge of anger flash towards Brooke. If she and Wyatt could understand what the other was saying without words, then why was she hurting him like this? "Are you sure that you're not just jealous?" Brooke queried.

"Of a demon?" Chris snapped, annoyed. "Hardly. Look, I am doing this with or without your help and I am going to find my girlfriend, whether you like it or not. So either get or board or get off the tracks." He walked out of the kitchen to where Cassandra was waiting.

"So," he said, picking up where the conversation left off, "do we have an agreement that none of you come after us if we work together?"

"Agreed," Cassandra said with a sadistic smile as Brooke and Wyatt came back into the room.

"Good," Chris said flatly. "Then let's get started."


	6. Unexpected Allies

**Legacy: Lovers Lane**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Six: Unexpected Allies

"Nice to see you, too, Susie," Brandon quipped as he moved further into the motel room, cocking an eyebrow at Susan, who had her hands on her hips as she glared at the two. She had thought she had put up every protection spell so that nobody could track her. Obviously not, she thought in annoyance as she looked at the two of them.

"What are you two doing here?" she demanded. "Not that I'm not glad to see you guys," she amended, seeing the almost hurt look on Bobby's face. "I just thought nobody could track me, is all. How'd you get here?"

"Summoning spell," Brandon said dryly, tossing himself onto the couch. "You'd be surprised how well they work around protection spells when you know how to work them right." Susan glared at her Whitelighter before she moved over to her (un-revealed) little brother.

"Hey, you," she said, hugging him tightly. If Bobby was surprised by the gesture, he didn't show it, just wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. "Are you okay?" she asked, cupping his head to look at him in the eye. "You look tired."

"I'm okay," Bobby assured her. "I think I'm better than you right now," he told her as he pulled away from the embrace.

Susan frowned as she turned towards him, perturbed by the words. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I overheard Dad talking to some demon named Tristan Hale in his office earlier today," Bobby explained while Brandon opened up the fridge, obviously looking for some food. Susan sighed, running her hand through her hair. If Tristan was working with their father on this, then things were already getting out of hand. "We went looking for you, to warn you about this, but we couldn't find you. Then Brandon told me about you and Ethan—"

"Brandon told you?" Susan repeated sharply, turning to look at her Whitelighter, who shrugged. "How do you know about that?"

"Well, for one thing, the Elders tell Whitelighters pretty much everything they need to know about their charges," Brandon responded dryly. "And for another, I do have a lot of conversations with those Up There. Your brother's one of them."

Susan said nothing, but closed her eyes as she thought about her twin; now was not the time to start another sob fest about his death. They had bigger things to deal with; like stopping Tristan, for one thing. When she was sure she had control of her emotions, she opened her eyes to look at the two boys.

"Okay," she said softly, "so Peter and Tristan are working together. Can't say I'm really surprised; they've got a common goal. Eliminating me," she said dryly. Neither Bobby nor Brandon smiled at her weak attempt at joking and she didn't blame them. "Then it's probably a good thing that I took off when I did."

"Do you really think that running away is the answer?" Brandon said straightforwardly. She glared at him.

"I'm not running away; I am trying to keep my friends safe so that they don't have to deal with him."

"And you don't even bother giving them a heads up so that they at least know what they're dealing with," Brandon retorted. "Give me a break, Susan. Do you think for one minute that Tristan isn't going to go after them? He's not stupid; once he finds out that you're gone, he's just going to lure you right into a trap, just like the one he's trying to set for Ethan." Susan's eyes narrowed; she knew that, but she also knew Tristan. And he wasn't stupid enough to go up against three witches, all of them equally powerful.

But one witch, with only a half-demon with her, with no one knowing where she was? He would be a fool to pass up that opportunity and whatever else he might be, Tristan Hale was not a fool.

Susan shook her head. "Tristan's only interest is in me and Ethan right now. He doesn't want to get anybody else involved."

"Maybe not him, but Dad does," Bobby pointed out. "And they're working together now. I wouldn't put it past Dad to get Tristan to help him just to achieve his own ends of getting rid of Chris, Wyatt, and Brooke. Without you, they're extremely vulnerable. They need you, Susan. And what about Chris?" he added, looking desperate. "You gonna break his heart?"

Chris . . . Susan sighed inwardly as her thoughts turned to her boyfriend. She wasn't sure how she was even going to explain this to him or to the others; she had never told any of them about Ethan. He was a part of her past that she had kept secret, even from Brooke. She had never trusted herself to look at the memories of her and Ethan together and not lose it completely. So she had just pushed it into the back of her mind, never letting them out unless she was alone.

"I'll go back when this is over, okay? I never said that I wasn't going back," Susan said, a hint of exasperation in her voice. "San Francisco is home now and I'm . . . I've got responsibilities there. I know that. But I am not going to get them involved in this, okay? I won't. This is something that will never understand. Especially Chris and Wyatt," she added softly, looking at Brandon. "Wasn't their aunt married to the Source of All Evil? And he kept turning evil on them, no matter how hard she tried to save him?"

Brandon and Bobby exchanged looks. "Okay, you might have a point there," Brandon conceded. "But we've still got to figure out a way to end this once and for all. Now do you have any idea on how you're gonna do that?"

"Can't you just use a potion to vanquish this guy?" Bobby asked, glancing at Susan questioningly.

Susan nodded, though Brandon looked bewildered. "Yeah, we're gonna try that," she answered, standing up. "Ethan thinks that if we use some of his blood and mix it in the potion, then it might be enough to work. At least, that's the theory. So, we're gonna make the potion and try it with some of his blood. And if that doesn't work, then we're back to the drawing board. I just hope that the potion's strong enough," she sighed as she reached down to retrieve the Book, going to go through some vanquishing potions for similar demons to help work on the one she was going to try on Tristan.

At the same moment that Susan touched the Book, however, her precognition power touched her, more fiercely and more violently and more vivid than she had ever experience before. Instead of just a warning feeling passing through her, alerting her to danger, images were shoved into her brain, images coming from the future.

Susan shrieked in surprise, grabbed the edge of the table as she dropped the Book, grabbing her head as the images were forced into her mind.

_Cassandra was in her apartment, talking to her friends and telling them about her and Ethan, negotiating with them, promising to stay away from her if they helped capture Ethan. Then the image faded away, replaced by a cave that Susan remembered from her captivity. Ethan was there, his face twisted in pain as Tristan tortured him, the agony coming from Ethan surging through her as well. _

_As she turned her head, Susan saw her own body, lying bloodied and bruised and tortured, motionless on the ground. A silent cry echoed from her mouth as she realised that she was looking at her own dead body. _

_And then Tristan spoke, his words echoing hauntingly through her mind as she watched the future events, unable to do anything to prevent them. _

_"You should have known better than to cross me, boy," he hissed at him. "Now it's time to pay the price. It's such a pity. Just a pretty face caused you to fall and lose everything. And she doesn't even care about you anymore. Why else would she have moved on to the Halliwell boy?" _

_Susan would never forget the look on Ethan's face as his father said those words; anguish, torment, and agony. Because of her. His face was the last thing she saw before she came out of the vision, her lips screaming his name as she was ripped out of it. _

"ETHAN!"

She was crying so hard that she almost didn't realise that someone was holding her tightly, stroking her hair and whispering comforting words to her until she raised her head.

"I'm right here, sweetheart," he whispered as he held her. Without thinking, Susan flung her arms around him, pressing her face into his chest. Ethan's arms went around her, rocking her back and forth to console her.

"Susan, what happened?" Bobby's voice broke through her tears and she raised her head to look at her brother. His eyes were wide and fearful, as were Brandon's, though his held a bit of wariness in them, concern and anxiety. "Are you okay?"

"I—I don't . . ." Susan's voice trailed off as she looked up at Ethan, about to wipe away the tears on her face, but he caught her hand and stopped her, doing it for her with his thumb. "I'm not sure what happened, exactly. It felt like one of my precognition warnings, but . . . stronger. And then I saw . . . things," she finished lamely. "In my head."

Brandon looked amazed. "You had a vision?" he asked, making sure he understood her correctly. Ethan took a deep breath, looking at Susan for confirmation.

"I think so," she said softly. "So . . . maybe I got a new power?"

"Or an expansion of your precognition power," Brandon reasoned, sounding very much like a Whitelighter.

"What did you see?" Ethan asked her, still holding her in his arms and she shivered slightly, lowering her head.

"Cassandra," she whispered. Ethan went white. Brandon froze. Bobby, however, looked puzzled.

"Who's Cassandra?"

"My sister," Ethan explained. "She's a full-blooded demon, unlike me. My mother was human," he explained. "My father put her in a coma when I was born so she wouldn't corrupt me."

Bobby shook his head in disbelief. "And I thought my father was bad," he mused. "Fathers suck."

Ethan made a weak chuckle before looking at Susan, keeping her locked in a tight embrace. And she made no attempt to move out of his arms. "What happened in the vision, sweetheart?" he asked, as lovingly as he would have in the days when they were dating.

But of course, their feelings for one another had never diminished over the years. It had never been about their love being changed that had been the cause of their break-up. It had been because Ethan had been afraid of this happening; his father coming after her again and putting her through all of that again, torturing her again.

"She . . . she's coming after you," Susan whispered, her voice shaking. "She was making a deal with Chris and Wyatt and Brooke . . . so long as she got you, then they'd let me go."

"I highly doubt that," Bobby muttered. "If your dad is anything like my dad, then he's not just gonna let you go."

Ethan nodded. "I agree. It's just a trick so that they can find us."

"That's not all," Susan whispered. Everyone looked at her. "I saw what was gonna happen to you if they captured you. Tristan's gonna capture both of us and put us both through what happened to me last time. But we're not gonna get out. And he's gonna make you watch me die before he kills you."

Silence and horror met her words and Ethan's arms tightened around Susan as she buried her face into his chest.

--

Brooke walked behind Chris and Cassandra, her hand clasped with Wyatt's as they were tracking down Ethan by following his shimmers. They were still in San Francisco, but the trail was weak, so he had to be long gone by now.

"I really don't think that this is a good idea," she whispered to Wyatt, who tightened his grip on her hand to reassure her. "I mean, it really feels like we're going behind Susan's back. She might not be telling us what's going on with this, but . . . she asked us to trust her in that message. We don't even know what the deal is and maybe Ethan is different."

Wyatt sighed. "Much as I would like to agree with you, Chris is kind of right. Demons are demons. It never turns out well, especially with witch/demon relationships." He shook his head. "Wherever Susan is, I just hope she's safe, because if Ethan has even harmed one hair on her, I can't guarantee that Tristan and Cassandra are gonna get him back in one piece."

"I don't think he'd hurt her," Brooke said thoughtfully. "If he did, then I think Susan and Ryan would have vanquished him a long time ago."

"Well, maybe not, but you're not going to get through to Chris on this one," Wyatt acknowledged. "I never thought that I'd see the day when my little brother actually was jealous enough to consider working with a demon. Or that Susan was actually involved with one."

Brooke shook her head. "I never knew about that. Neither she or Ryan ever told me. But I think . . . I think I might've guessed some of the truth. Not this, exactly, but I knew that she had fallen in love with someone. When I started dating Ryan, she was . . . depressed and moody and . . . nursing a broken heart. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that she had been in a serious relationship that ended with him leaving."

"But she never told you about this Ethan guy?" Brooke shook her head, wondering how serious Susan and Ethan had been, for her to keep it a secret, even from her best friend.

"The trail ends here," Cassandra spoke up, stopping suddenly, her eyes grave. They were in the middle of campus, where Ethan must've tracked Susan at. "The little Whitelighter must've orbed him to prevent me from picking up on his shimmering." She scowled angrily, before looking at the three witches. "I don't suppose you can track orbing, can you?"

"Susan's put up every protection spell to prevent us from doing so," Chris retorted, green eyes flashing. "Otherwise, we would've found her way before now and you'd be just a dead demon."

Cassandra looked bored. "As if you could vanquish me. There's no known potion to vanquish any of my family, Halliwell. A fact that you should take into consideration when you meet my brother. The only reason your girlfriend is still alive is because of my brother's weak human side."

"Human?" Brooke said sharply, causing everyone to look at her. She folded her arms across her chest, taking a step towards Cassandra. "Ethan is part human?"

"What does it matter?" Cassandra sneered. "So if you can't track the little witch, then can you use a spell to find where Ethan went?"

"Yes," Chris answered, ignoring Wyatt and Brooke's exasperated looks towards him. "Just give me a few minutes."

"Chris, this isn't a good idea," Wyatt tried to intervene, but once again, the younger Halliwell wasn't listening. Brooke ran her fingers through her hair; she might not be the psychic amongst them, but she had the feeling that this was about to go very well.

"_Demon that has taken one of our own,_

_summon us to him, of flesh and bone. _

_To the place where he dwells,_

_whether it be house, city, or dell. _

_We summon us to their side,_

_to the ones we seek to find."_

A white light surrounded the three witches and demon as they were taken away from San Francisco, transported to the place where Susan was hiding out at with her demonic ex-boyfriend.

The moment that they landed, Brooke's hand moved over her mouth in a gasp as the scene met her eyes.

Susan was at work on the stove, stirring a potion while an unfamiliar, yet incredibly handsome young man was standing next to her, his hand on her shoulder to support her. Her face was pale and her expression extremely vulnerable and afraid.

Brandon was pacing back and forth across the room, but froze the moment that he saw them, his eyes going wide while Bobby was searching through the Book of Shadows, unaware of anything odd having happened.

Cassandra's lips split into a smile as she conjured up an energy ball and Susan stilled, the hand holding the spoon freezing on the spot and her head turned sharply.

"Move!" she shouted, grabbing the boy next to her and pulling him down under the island just as Cassandra released the energy ball, hitting the pot on the stove.

When the smoke had cleared, the young man stood up quickly, his eyes narrowing when they focused on the demon with the three witches. "Cassandra," he snarled.

She smiled, conjuring up another energy ball. "Hello, little brother," she said mockingly.


	7. Captured Again

**Legacy: Lovers Lane**

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Seven: Captured . . . Again

Susan grunted as she and Ethan hit the ground, narrowly avoiding the energy ball that was shot towards them. Ethan gripped her tightly, his lips close to her ear, and whispered, "Don't move. It's Cassandra."

Her heart skipped a beat as the man she truly loved kissed her cheek and slowly got to his feet, looking towards their attacker. From where she lay, Susan could see a few other pairs of legs as well. Bobby was standing closest to them, in a fighting stance. Brandon was also nearby, calm and poised, but the intense worry pouring off him in waves.

Why was it, she thought in exasperation and annoyance, that she could always sense Brandon? His emotions, his whereabouts—except when he cut her off—she could always pinpoint exactly. It frustrated her to no end and drove her crazy half the time, but oddly enough, it gave her some condolence, some comfort. She couldn't explain it.

Turning her attention to the other pairs of legs, Susan recognised Cassandra's—who _else_ would wear those designer shoes? The demon that she had met during her captivity two years ago had been a fashion freak and always had the best of everything, demanded it, something that she had thrown at Susan multiple times. Those shoes had to cost two hundred dollars a shoe, if she had even paid for them, which Susan highly doubted.

The high heeled shoes doubtlessly belonged to Brooke, who was standing next to a pair of hospital shoes. Wyatt, no doubt, probably just having gotten off of a shift at the clinic. Which meant that the pair of sneakers next to him was Chris. Susan inwardly groaned; she really didn't want to have this conversation right now. They had bigger things to deal with.

"Cassandra," Ethan spoke, his voice flat and even as he stood up, looking at his half-sister. Susan's blood chilled as the blonde demon replied in the same tone that he had used, but hers adapted it into a mocking voice.

"Hello, little brother."

"We've been expecting you," Ethan said smoothly, his hand at his side flicked and an energy ball appeared in his hand, gathering energy as he held it. Susan reached out, tugging on his pant's leg inconspicuously.

"Don't hit the others," she whispered, in such a soft tone that none of the others caught it.

"I won't," he breathed back, just as quietly. Susan stayed on her stomach as Cassandra's designer shoes stepped closer. "I think that's close enough, Cassie. You shouldn't have come here. That was your first big mistake and believe me, it's the last that you'll ever make."

"Resorting to threats now?" Cassandra replied slyly. "I would think that you'd want to keep your precious little witch as safe as you possibly could. I mean, that is the reason why you left her in the first place."

"I left so you and Dad wouldn't come after her," Ethan snarled. Susan closed her eyes, fighting the tears that were threatening to come pouring down. "And I warned Dad what would happen if any of you came after Susan ever again. This time, you're going to pay with your life."

Cassandra let out a low chuckle. "You seem to be forgetting, dear brother, that our family is invincible. I don't know what your witch was brewing there, but no matter. Enough of this nonsense. Just come with me back home and we can forget that this nonsense ever happened." Ethan released a short, disbelieving laugh.

"You really expect me to—"

"And your little witch is off-limits from now on," Cassandra added, ignoring her brother's protest. Susan's blood went cold and she seethed at this new turn of events. Despite how much he hated being evil and part-demon, if he thought for one minute that he could keep her safe by going back, then he would do it.

"No, Ethan," she whispered, fear striking her voice. He couldn't do this to her, not now.

"Shh, sweetheart," he whispered to her. Susan stared up at him, blue eyes meeting brown, before his gaze returned to his sister again, straightening as the energy ball that remained in his hand was up to an extremely high level.

"My mother was human, Cassandra," he said flatly. "And the humanity is a big part of who I am. Her compassion was what drove her to our father and that same compassion she passed on to me drove me to Susan. If you think for one minute that I am ever going to stop protecting the Innocent, you're wrong."

"You have no idea what you've started," Cassandra hissed. "The girl's going to die, little brother. One day she'll die and then you'll still be here, nursing a broken heart from that weak human side of yours. Because she weakened you, made you less of what you are."

"I'm never going back. If you came back here to convince me to go back, then you're wasting your time. You're never going to persuade me."

Susan held her breath as a small chuckle escaped from the demon. "I didn't think that I would," she replied smoothly. "But I am a bit smarter than you give me credit for, Ethan." She smiled. "You don't think that I came here alone, did you? Horace! Jason! Marcus!" she shouted, her voice echoing slightly in the small room, making it seem bigger than it really was.

The second that the demonic assassins shimmered into the room, Ethan launched the energy ball at his sister, shouting at the others, "Get out of the way!"

He took a dive under the counter, pulling Susan to him as Bobby and Brandon launched themselves next to them in safety. "Get her out of here!" he snapped at Brandon, shoving Susan towards the Whitelighter.

"Ethan!" Susan shouted at her ex, struggling to break free of the hold that her Whitelighter had on her. "Stop! Let go of me, Brandon!" she snapped, slamming her foot down on his. Brandon released a sharp howl of pain as she pushed him off of her and moved towards the battle that was happening, ignoring her boyfriend, Whitelighter, and brother as they yelled after her.

Conjuring the lightning as it sparked from her hands, Susan hurled it towards the demon called Marcus, turning him into flames as he was vanquished as Ethan vanquished one of the other two.

"One on two?" she said, smiling pleasantly at the sole assassin. He scowled at her, looking between the two former lovers. "I'm liking these odds."

"Witch," he hissed at her and Ethan moved protectively in front of her, his gaze on the assassin. "You think you've won." He let out a soft chuckle. "Believe me when I say, this battle is far from over." A smirk played across his face, causing chills to go up her spine. "It hasn't even begun."

Before Susan could even consider what those words meant, she felt rather than heard someone shimmer behind her and without warning, someone's arm wrapped around her neck and she felt the cool blade of a knife at the base of her neck.

Ethan snapped the moment that he saw whoever had her, about to move towards her when the knife lifted enough to show him the deadly weapon. "I can kill her in half the time it takes you to even think about it," Cassandra said smoothly. Susan grunted as the arm tightened around her windpipe and she struggled for air. "Relax, Dawson. I'm not going to kill you. Yet," she added with a hint of malice.

"What are you doing?" Chris demanded, moving forward. "You said we help you, you'd leave her alone!"

"Well . . ." Cassandra gave a small, sinister chuckle as she looked at him carelessly. "You should listen better to your big brother. Working with demons . . . always a bad idea." She replaced the knife against Susan's throat and backed her away.

"Cassandra, if you harm one hair on her . . ." Ethan growled, but she laughed excitedly.

"You're going to do what, exactly, little brother? There's only one way that your precious witch is going to survive and that's if you come back to this family. Of course, not even that's going to save you from our father. Nothing will. The moment that you crossed over, you signed your own death warrant, Ethan. The girl? She's just a nuisance that we need to get rid of." She smirked as she narrowed her eyes at the half-demon. "And I am going to be there to watch the two of you die."

Susan gasped at the feeling of involuntarily shimmering as the hotel room disappeared from sight, replaced by a familiar setting. She stumbled as Cassandra threw her onto the cave ground and she scrambled to her feet, looking around at the place that had been the setting of her captivity the last time that she had last met Tristan Hale.

Her heart was racing rapidly as she looked around at Cassandra, her blue eyes wide and fearful, but determined. "Why are you doing this?" she demanded. "Why can't you just leave us alone?"

"Now, now, Miss Dawson, no need to throw a tantrum," a silky, familiar voice said from behind her. Susan's blood went cold and she slowly turned to face the one man that she had prayed never to see again. Tristan Hale smirked as he stepped into the room. "I would hate for there to be any un-pleasantries amongst us." He reached for her and traced one hand down her face and neck, resting above her chest. Susan had to fight to keep herself from flinching back; she was not sixteen years old anymore. She was not the same girl that he had held captive last time.

"After all," Tristan said smoothly, "you're going to be here for quite some time, my dear. A very long time."

To be continued . . .

**--Fade to Black--**

**End Credits**

Guest starring:

Robert Pattinson as Ethan Hale

Kiera Knightly as Cassandra Hale

Jack Devonport as Peter Connelly

Eric Bana as Tristan Hale


End file.
